Volume One, Chapter Nine: Urgency

Watching the child safely enter the house, Mu Yao took out her phone and fiddled with it for a while before sending a message to a certain irresponsible parent.

Late at night, Gu Nanxiao frowned as he read one message after another from Ms. Li Mengfei.

As the day's accumulated messages slowly passed before his eyes, just as Gu Nanxiao was about to close them, he noticed an unfamiliar profile picture.

He had added her on WeChat but had forgotten to mute her notifications.

However...

Gu Nanxiao lightly tapped on the fiery emoji Mu Yao had sent.

It was his oversight.

Unexpectedly, she cared quite a bit.

Glancing toward Gu Nanqing’s bedroom, Gu Nanxiao thought to himself that this boy was truly fortunate.

After a night of frowning, Gu Nanxiao’s expression relaxed, and he set his phone aside, choosing not to dwell on troublesome matters.

That night, he finally enjoyed a good sleep.

*

“Okay, Mom, yes, yes, I know, I’ll get along well with him. I can’t talk now, I’m going to be late for work,” Mu Yao said, quickly hanging up the phone.

She rested her head against the door, exhaling deeply.

Since the matchmaking meeting before the New Year, her parents seemed extremely pleased with Gu Nanxiao.

Mu Yao could only cover up her relationship with Gu Nanxiao in front of them with one well-meaning lie after another.

As she turned around, she unexpectedly met a pair of sparkling eyes.

Gu Nanqing’s chubby little face wore a puzzled expression that hadn’t yet faded.

Caught by Mu Yao, he didn’t feel awkward; instead, he smiled broadly and tugged her hand.

“Teacher Mu! Wait a moment!”

The little boy quickly ran back to his room.

When Gu Nanqing returned carrying a box, his face was flushed red.

It was as if Mu Yao might disappear the next second.

“Teacher Mu, try this. These cookies were made by my brother. They’re really delicious! Once you eat them, all your worries will be gone~”

Before Mu Yao could react, a bag of cookies appeared in her hand.

In front of her, Gu Nanqing looked at her expectantly.

A brief blankness crossed Mu Yao’s face.

Coming back to her senses, she looked at Gu Nanqing, then at the bag of cookies, caught in a dilemma.

“If you like them, just take them. I made them for Nanqing, and I used very clean ingredients.”

At some point, Gu Nanxiao appeared at the doorway.

Mu Yao sighed in relief.

She bent down and said a few words to Gu Nanqing, then stood straight and nodded to Gu Nanxiao.

Carrying the cookies, she stepped into the elevator.

Gu Nanxiao watched the elevator doors slowly close, chuckled softly, turned back inside, and casually took the little one who was still staring blankly at the elevator doors.

In the late afternoon, near school dismissal, Mu Yao’s stomach was growling loudly.

Because she was busy preparing materials for the afternoon meeting, she hadn’t eaten lunch.

Her eyes scanned the desk covered with homework problems, finally settling on one spot.

After hesitating for a moment, she reached out and took the cookie bag she had deliberately placed in a corner.

Even though the warmth from the morning was gone, the moment she opened the bag, a rich aroma of cookies filled her nostrils.

Mu Yao gently pinched a piece and put it into her mouth, her beautiful fox-like eyes narrowing slightly.

It was delicious.

...

“Xiao Yao, take a look at the schedule for the Chinese department,” someone said.

Mu Yao focused intently on the presentation in front of her while a file was placed on her desk by Gao Mingyu.

“Thanks, senior,” she replied.

Gao Mingyu was Mu Yao’s senior brother, three years her senior.

They had met through a club during their school days and had kept in touch intermittently over the years. Unexpectedly, they now worked at the same school.

Mu Yao picked up the file, which detailed the schedule for the teachers' medical examinations.

They were to find time within the week to go to a designated hospital for the school-arranged checkup.

Having had previous experiences, Mu Yao almost developed PTSD at the mere mention of medical examinations.

To avoid unnecessary complications, she checked her work schedule.

She happened to be free that afternoon.

She picked up a pen and marked the date on her work calendar.

“Senior brother, is there anything else?”

Turning around, Gao Mingyu still stood by her desk. Mu Yao’s elegant willow-shaped brows furrowed slightly.

Gao Mingyu paused, waved his hand, and turned to leave.

...

“Xiao Yao, you go ahead. I’ll wait for you here,” he said, reaching to take the bag from Mu Yao’s hand.

Mu Yao hesitated, moving her lips. Their eyes met, and the hand holding the bag relaxed.

An hour earlier, as she packed up to leave, she happened to run into Gao Mingyu at the school gate.

She actually preferred to go alone, but Gao Mingyu was both her senior and a mentor.

...

“Hey, careful!”

Coming out of the examination room, Mu Yao looked down at her report when a child suddenly rushed toward her, about to collide with a bench in the corridor.

Her ingrained professional instincts made her want to prevent the accident.

She took a few steps forward, but her view was suddenly blocked by a tall figure.

“Little one, don’t run in public places, okay?”

Strong hands lifted the child, preventing him from falling and hitting his forehead on the bench.

The child was still stunned from the moment just before, and upon seeing Gu Nanxiao, he pouted and began to sob.

“Da Bao! Oh, my dear darling, how can you bully a child like that?!”

The child’s mother hurried over, ignoring everything else, and hugged her child to soothe him.

As she crouched down, she roughly pulled her child’s hand from Gu Nanxiao’s grasp.

In the motion, the decoration on the woman’s handbag scraped across Gu Nanxiao’s hand.

A bloodstain appeared, droplets of blood beginning to trickle out.

“Mom, brother is bleeding...” a little girl nearby timidly said to her mother.

“Yes, what should we do at a time like this?”

“Brother’s hand was scratched by auntie, so auntie needs to apologize,” the girl’s soft voice stated, making the boy cry even louder.

The boy’s mother glanced over and rolled her eyes.

“You want me to fake an apology? He made my son cry! He deserves to be hurt; I haven’t even asked him to compensate for my son’s emotional distress! Look at my Da Bao crying, so pitiful...”

“But auntie...”

The girl’s mother grabbed her daughter who was about to step forward, raising a hand to her lips to signal silence.

The girl bit her lip, worriedly looking at the bloodstain on Gu Nanxiao’s hand.

“This lady, your child was running and playing in a public place first. This gentleman saved your child from falling, yet you rushed over without thanking him and instead turned things around on him. Ma’am, that’s simply unreasonable behavior.”

Gu Nanxiao looked at Mu Yao in surprise.

He was surprised to see her at the hospital, even more so to see her stand up now.

Usually, in such situations... most people would choose to stay out of it.

Only she, with her foolish passion, stood up to defend justice.

Over the years, Gu Nanxiao had encountered many such situations.

If possible, he wished she could be a bit more selfish.

At least then she wouldn’t be inviting trouble upon herself.